Digital Literacy

The Federal Communications Commission set guidelines for two pilot programs aimed at increasing both awareness of and participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households (and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands). On October 11, the FCC provided an update on the implementation of the pilot programs.

According to Internet Use Survey Data, which tracks disparities around Internet adoption,  a majority – 58% – of the 24 million offline households express no interest or need to be online. There is also a large proportion who say they can’t afford home Internet service (18%).  Regardless of their stated reasons for non-use, offline households have significantly lower incomes than their online counterparts.

The United States is committed to making further progress on ensuring all our citizens are connected and improving both the level and the quality of telecommunications. We are working to ensure that every American has access to affordable high-speed internet, to invest in resilient infrastructure and more secure networks, and to use technology that aligns with our values.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC).

City of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald created the Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition (PDEC), a working group of anchor organizations already working to promote digital equity and smaller community groups with intimate knowledge of the community need.

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is awarding $446,770,282 in grants for the expansion of internet access across Tennessee. Nearly $50 million more will be directed to broadband adoption and digital literacy efforts. More than 150,000 unserved homes and businesses in 58 counties receiving broadband access. Priority was given to applicants with the lowest internet speeds, though all “unserved” areas (where only services with speeds below 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload) were considered for the grant.

Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) is launching North Carolina's first digital equity grant program, which will help North Carolinians afford high-speed internet, obtain digital devices, and access digital literacy resources. The multi-phased program, administered by the NC Department of Information Technology’s Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, will invest up to $24 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for collaborative digital equity projects. The program’s first phase will invest $10 million in total funding to support 10-15 state government entities to develop or expand digi

Connected Nation is launching a Digital Literacy program in collaboration with AT&T. The program is part of AT&T’s national digital literacy initiative to help narrow the digital divide. The Digital Literacy program will offer in-person and virtual digital literacy training workshops across the country where this training is needed most for the digital empowerment of residents.

On September 15, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) joined Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) in introducing the Digital Equity Foundation Act of 2022.

To ensure all learners have equitable access to reliable, high-speed broadband and technology tools for learning, we must consider the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption. The purpose of this guidance resource is to support leaders in developing effective digital equity plans in these ways:  Exploring the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption; Highlighting existing barriers to achieving digital equity; Providing promising strategies to overcome these barriers; Identifying key action steps for leaders. The U.S.